The history of the Royal family is filled with drama, scandal, assassination attempts, infidelity, and all that good stuff, but clearly, the contemporary royal family isn’t squeaky clean either. From Princess Margaret’s complicated love life to Prince William’s secret affair, there have been some incredibly damning incidents over the decades.
Princess Margaret’s complicated love life
Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister was quite tired of the strict royal standards, and her refusal of some norms influenced the next generation. This all started when she fell in love with war hero Peter Townsend, who divorced his wife just to be with Marge. They announced their engagement, but the Church of England had a law that did not allow divorced individuals with living ex-spouses to get married again, and Elizabeth refused to make an exception. Choosing duty over love, Margaret ended the relationship, and in 1960, she married photographer Anthony Armstrong-Jones and had two children, and probably a dead wife. Later, they divorced after Margater was caught having an affair with the family’s younger gardener. That’s just how she rolled.
Prince Philip’s mom was committed to an asylum
Did you know that Princess Alice of Battenberg was put into a psychiatric sanatorium in 1931 after suffering a nervous breakdown? Probably not, since this info has been kept under wraps for a long time. The strain of being exiled from Greece took its toll on the poor Princess. By 1930, despite being deaf, she was reportedly hearing strange voices and believed she was having relationships with Jesus and various other religious figures. Years later, she did something unexpected: the Princess hid a Jewish family in her house, which was mere yards from Gestapo headquarters. In her later life, she founded a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns and joined their ranks. After her death, she was buried in Jerusalem and honored as Righteous Among the Nations for having hidden persecuted Jews in her house in Athens.
Diana threw herself down the stairs while pregnant
In declassified recordings that came out in 2004, Princess Diana opened up about how unhappy she was and her struggles with depression. She shared some really personal moments, including her fight with suicidal thoughts. One particularly shocking story was when she threw herself down the stairs while she was three months pregnant with Prince William. These revelations really highlighted the intense pressure and loneliness Diana was feeling, giving us a better understanding of the tough times she went through in her life.
The abdication crisis
The monarchy’s position is closely tied to the Church of England, historically viewing the sovereign’s right to rule as divinely ordained. The line of succession is not a choice but a designation. In layman’s terms: you don’t choose your king, so sit down and enjoy the chaos. In 1936, King Edward VIII created a constitutional crisis by abdicating to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcée deemed unsuitable by the Church and British establishment. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward to choose between the throne and marriage, leading to Edward’s abdication announcement on December 11, 1936. He reigned for less than a year before being succeeded by his brother, George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. All that for a fine woman. Was it worth it?
Queen Elizabeth II’s “annus horribilis”
1992 was a tough year for Queen Elizabeth II, really putting the royal family to the test during a time of big changes in Britain. In her Ruby Jubilee speech on November 24, 1992, she called it an “annus horribilis” (a year of disaster), pointing out the mess in her kids’ love lives. Princess Anne dumped Captain Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew broke up with Sarah Ferguson, and the drama between Prince Charles and Diana was all over the news. These scandals, which the Queen had hoped to steer clear of, grabbed everyone’s attention. To top it all off, there was a huge fire at Windsor Castle right before she spoke about all the chaos.
Prince Andrew’s friend Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein, the now-deceased sex trafficker, and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell reportedly had ties to Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s brother. They’ve been seen together, and while Andrew hasn’t outright denied being friends with Epstein, it’s still unclear how involved he actually was in any of Epstein’s terrible activities. He did settle a sexual assault claim privately, though. In the meantime, the royal family has been trying to distance itself from him, setting his “royal status” to N/A. This whole scandal is still sending ripples in 2025.
Prince William’s maybe-affair
Sarah Rose Cholmondeley, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley, supposedly had a fling with the future king back in 2019. This caused a rift between her and Kate, who were once close friends. At the time, the Palace PR team was scrambling to put out the rumors, but they didn’t do much to help Meghan Markle, who was getting torn apart by the press. There were whispers that someone in The Firm let the tabloids go after Meghan in exchange for keeping quiet about the cheating rumors. In 2022, the story got an update when it made its way into a Deux Moi blind item, with a wild detail about “pegging.” This version painted William as a repeat cheater, saying Kate was cool with the physical side of things but wasn’t happy that he had actually fallen for Rose during their affair.
